point and shoot: a date with clinton kennedy

Posted 8/03/2008 by coelder in Labels: , , , , , ,

atlanta:  sherman burned it down (9/11/1864-wikipedia-who knew it was 9/11?), ludacris, pastor troy, and ted turner built it up.  atl hoe.   well that is a bit of a stretch and a solid 120 year gap of 'splainin but what has come out of the ashes should be acknowledged.  besides becoming the commercial mecca of the south, its arts districts are spread from the highlands to buckhead with small galleries dispersed throughout.  here begins my story. 

following an interview in buckhead, i had about 2 hours on my hands and no idea what to do.  thankful for my newly purchased garmin, i located a baskin robbins and then set off to find some quality art in the atl.  what i found was a wonderful lady who professed her allegiance to the republican party despite her misleading name, clinton kennedy, and gorgeous art in a hole in the wall gallery. after asking permission to take pictures and mrs. kennedy respectfully asking she not be included in any of the shots, i started my field day of pictures.  this is what followed.

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on display was a combination of paintings and mixed media by barbara olsen titled "bits and pieces, snippets and scraps." thoroughly intriguing with hints of humor and overarching empowerment.  green baby below just made my smile.  that has been a saying in my household for years and thought it was only appropriate.  i figure that the artist wasn't too southern otherwise it would have read "ain't no one happy." the glory of the word that ain't in the dictionary and a double negative. collective sigh. 

anywho, the painting on the left took me a second and it really moved me in what was beyond my full comprehension.  never having anyone close to me go through the full cancer treatment and witnessing the suffering does not give me a complete understanding of what each person and their loved ones go through but olsen's DSC03170ability to honor the courage they must have and her inspiring women must have had, is a beautiful thing in itself.

lesson one in painting photography: don't use a flash.  duh. guess who did? this guy.  but like a good student, I quickly learned.  and adjusted.

lesson two in photography of: just get close. there's no reason to back up and zoom in. if you know of a reason, I'm all ears. it limits the sensitivity to your movement and ultimately gets a clearer picture. 

 

there's not much explaining to this next photo.  the reason it made it on the blog was personal.  may it be my enjoyment of the shadows, the simple painted over white walls or possibly DSC03181just the symbolic fun of finding this off the beaten path gallery much like the art was hidden behind other art.  either way, it was a special photo and a special day.

next we have what i call: "the rooster that shat sunshine." descriptive, playful and gorgeous.  i was really happy with how the photo turned out and how it is, for all intents and purposes, completely random. DSC03142

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finally a lovely mishmash of frames, art and separators. i thoroughly enjoyed taking this picture knowing that it wasn't going to change my perception of galleries nor would it capture the randomness of the day.  however, it did hold something special that brought a smile to my face even in its trivial nature.  mark this as the moment where i realized that photography was not about taking pictures to sell or brag about, rather, it is to make me happy. 

that's my story for the day. if you're ever in an art gallery in buckhead and meet a wonderful lady with two presidents names; sit down, chat, and take a few pictures.



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